The lawsuit accusing Jay-Z and the currently incarcerated Sean “Diddy” Combs of repeatedly raping a minor in 2000 after the MTV VMAs was dismissed on Valentines’ Day, but the bitter relationship between the ‘Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)’ rapper and attorney Tony Buzbee rages on, for now.
Filed four days before the Buzbee represented Jane Doe “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice” her months long claims, Jay-Z a.k.a. Shawn Carter dropped a declaration in the docket of LA Superior Court ripping the Texas-based attorney a new one. Rejecting Buzbee’s attempt to have the Roc Nation boss’ defamation and extortion suit essentially gutted, Jay-Z’s February 10 filing says the “career-ending” accusations of assaulting a 13-year-old girl unsurprisingly damaged his business and his family – the former to the tune of $20 million a year.
While not mentioning the NFL, who Roc Nation has a recently renewed Super Bowl halftime show deal with, by name, Jay-Z’s declaration makes crystal that even if the Roger Goodell-run league was standing by him, others were much less inclined to do so:
Mr. Buzbee’s actions undermined my relationship, and my company Roc Nation’s relationship, with other businesses in the sports and entertainment space. We have agreements to produce entertainment programs for certain sporting events. After Mr. Buzbee filed the lawsuit, the media reported that other businesses could end their deals with Roc Nation, and forced one to speak out and address whether these false allegations would end our business relationship.
Immediately after Mr. Buzbee went public with his false accusations, my company Roc Nation also lost other contracts in the sports and entertainment space that would have generated revenues of approximately $20 million per year.
The rape of the then-teen Jane Doe is alleged to have occurred on the night of September 7, 2000 during one of Diddy’s drug-fueled parties after that year’s MTV VMAs. A graphic October 20-filed lawsuit from plaintiff’s attorney Buzbee first only named Combs, but made distinct reference to accomplices of a male “Celebrity A” and a female “Celebrity B.” Jay-Z was named as “Celebrity A” in a December 8 refiling by Buzbee, which followed separate November 18 suit from a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous “celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles” (later revealed to be Jay-Z) that went after the Texas lawyer for extortion.
After a flurry of filings, including several unsuccessful hopes of dismissal, one problematic NBC News sit-down by the now middle-aged Jane Doe, and other media duels, the whole matter was pulled on February 14 by the plaintiff, with no explanation by Buzbee. On the other hand, Jay-Z said in a statement posted that day on Roc Nation’s X feed: “I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
(L-R) Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Blue Ivy Carter attend the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King at Dolby Theatre on December 09, 2024 (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
In fact, on February 10, the multi-Grammy winner also got very specific about what he viewed as a very specific hit on him timingwise when he was publicly named on December 8 as allegedly the male “Celebrity A” engaged in the rape of the teen with a female “Celebrity B” and the much accused Combs.
“I was harshly criticized by others for accompanying my daughter to the premiere of her movie a day after Mr. Buzbee filed the Jane Doe lawsuit against me,” Jay-Z said last week of the full tilt LA December 9 debut of the Barry Jenkins directed Mufasa: The Lion King that he was at with Blue Ivy and spouse Beyoncé. “Media outlets reported that Disney was hesitant over my attendance at the premiere because of the accusations. I feel that Mr. Buzbee purposely filed this lawsuit on the eve of my daughter’s premiere to put me in the position of having to choose between supporting my daughter or hiding to avoid the negative press coverage.”
“Buzbee’s assertion that there is nothing ‘extreme and outrageous’ about his false public claims that Mr. Carter is a serial child rapist is erroneous and appalling,” states an accompanying 22-page opposition to defendant’s motion to strike.
Having said that, with all the citations of threats, alleged multiple victims, strong arming by Buzbee for “something of substance” from Jay-Z for his clients and attendance at big NFL games and the Grammys by the rapper and Beyoncé in recent weeks, this could all be DOA now with the rape case against Carter and Combs over. Though a February 25 hearing in DTLA is still on the books, Deadline reached out to lawyers for both Jay-Z and Jane Doe for comment and clarification on the state of affairs. This post will be updated if they respond.
Still facing dozens and dozens of assault and abuse civil suits from Buzbee represented plaintiffs and others, Combs remains behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. He has been there since his September 16 arrest. Failing on multiple occasions to get released on $50 million bail and looking at life in prison if found guilty, Combs is set to go to trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges starting May 5.
Doubt that Jay-Z will be showing up at that event, though there is no doubt it will be a spectacle.
